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John Dickson Carr

John Dickson Carr

John Dickson Carr (November 30, 1906-February 27, 1977) was a prolific American-born author of detective stories who also published under the pen names Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson, and Roger Fairbairn. He is generally regarded as one of the greatest writers of so-called "Golden Age" mysteries, complex, plot-driven stories in which the puzzle is paramount. Most of his many novels and short stories feature the elucidation, by an eccentric detective, of apparently impossible, and seemingly supernatural, crimes. He was influenced in this regard by the works of Gaston Leroux and by the Father Brown stories of G. K. Chesterton. Carr modeled his major detective, the fat and genial lexicographer Dr. Gideon Fell, on Chesterton.

Life and Works

Carr was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, the son of a sometime Democratic Congressman. He attended Hill School, where he was a mediocre student preoccupied with fledgling attempts at writing mystery stories. While studying abroad he married an Englishwoman, Clarice Cleaves, in 1931 and settled in England. They raised three children there before moving to the United States in 1948. Most of his books written through the mid-1950s are set in England or in Europe, and at one point there was speculation that "Carr" was a pen name used by the famous English humorist P. G. Wodehouse. Carr was a master of the locked room mystery, in which a detective solves apparently impossible crimes. Examples of such crimes are murder inside a locked and sealed room, or the discovery of a dead body (strangled or knifed at close quarters) surrounded by snow or wet sand in which no footprints but the victim's are visible. The Dr. Fell mystery The Three Coffins (also known as The Hollow Man) (1935), usually considered Carr's masterpiece, features crimes that are variations on both of these scenarios and that has a notable discourse by Dr. Fell on the nature of impossible crimes. It was selected as the best locked-room mystery of all time by a panel of mystery writers and Dr. Fell's discourse is sometimes printed as a stand-alone essay. Many of the Fell novels feature two or more different impossible crimes, including He Who Whispers (1946) and The Case of the Constant Suicides (1941). The novel The Crooked Hinge (1938) weaves a seemingly impossible throat-slashing, witchcraft, an eerie automaton modelled on Johann Maelzel's chess player, and a case similar to that of the Tichborne claimant into what is often cited as one of the greatest classics of detective fiction. But even Carr's biographer, Douglas G. Greene (John Dickson Carr: The Man Who Explained Miracles), notes that the explanation, like many of Carr's in other books, seriously stetches plausibility and the reader's credulity. Besides Dr. Fell, Carr mysteries feature three other series detectives: Sir Henry Merrivale (H.M.), Henri Bencolin, and Colonel March. Many of the Merrivale novels, written under the Carter Dickson byline, rank with Carr's best work, including the highly praised The Judas Window (1938). A few of his works do not feature a series detective - the most famous, The Burning Court (1937) concerns witchcraft, poisoning, and a body that disappears from a sealed crypt in suburban Philadelphia; it was the basis for the French film La Chambre ardente (1962). The book is notable for an apparently supernatural ending that contradicts an earlier, rational explanation of the mysterious events. Carr also wrote many radio scripts, particularly for the BBC, and some screenplays. His 1943 half-hour radio play Cabin B-13 was expanded into a series on CBS in the early 1950s for which Carr wrote all of the scripts, basing some on earlier works or re-presenting devices that Chesterton had used. That radio play was also expanded into the script for the 1953 film Dangerous Crossing, directed by Joseph M. Newman and starring Michael Rennie and Jeanne Crain. 1942's The Emperor's Snuffbox became the 1957 British film production That Woman Opposite. In 1950 Carr wrote a novel called The Bride of Newgate, set during the Napoleonic Wars, and this may be called the first full-length historical whodunnit. The Devil in Velvet and Fire, Burn! are the two historicals with which he himself was most pleased. With Adrian Conan Doyle, the youngest son of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Carr wrote a majority of the Sherlock Holmes stories that were published in the 1954 collection The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes . Late in life Carr developed an interest in the Southern United States, and a number of his last books are set there. He died in South Carolina.

Dr. Fell and Sir Henry Merrivale

Carr's two major detectives, Dr. Fell and Sir Henry Merrivale, are, superficially, quite similar. Both are large, blustery, upper-class, eccentric Englishman somewhere between middle-aged and elderly. Dr. Fell, however, who was frankly fat and walked only with the aid of two canes, was clearly modeled on the British writer G. K. Chesterton and was at all times a model of civility and geniality. He had a great mop of untidy hair that was often covered by a "shovel hat" and he generally wore a cape. He lived in a modest cottage and had no official connection to any public authorities. H.M., on the other hand, although stout and with a majestic "corporation", was physically active and was feared for his ill-temper and noisy rages. A well-heeled descendant of the "oldest baronecy" in England, he was an Establishment figure (even though he frequently railed against it) and in the earlier novels was the head of the British Secret Service. Even in the earliest books the bald, bespectacled, and scowling H.M. was clearly a Churchillian figure and in the later novels this similarity was somewhat more consciously evoked. Recently, the Dr. Fell books have generally been considered to be Carr's major achievement. Earlier, however, H.M. had been regarded more favorably by a number of critics. Howard Haycraft, author of the seminal Murder for Pleasure: The Life and Times of the Detective Story, wrote in 1941 that H.M. or "The Old Man" was "the present writer's admitted favorite among contemporary fictional sleuths."

Novels as John Dickson Carr

South Carolina
- It Walks By Night (detective Henri Bencolin) - 1930
- Castle Skull (Bencolin) - 1931
- The Lost Gallows (Bencolin) - 1931
- Poison In Jest - 1932
- The Corpse In The Waxworks (Bencolin) - 1932 (British title: The Waxworks Murder)
- Hag's Nook (detective Dr. Gideon Fell) - 1933
- The Mad Hatter Mystery (Fell) - 1933
- The Blind Barber (Fell) - 1934
- The Eight Of Swords (Fell) - 1934
- Death-Watch (Fell) - 1935
- The Three Coffins (Fell) - 1935 (British title: The Hollow Man)
- The Arabian Nights Murder (Fell) - 1936
- The Burning Court - 1937
- The Four False Weapons, Being the Return of Bencolin (Bencolin) - 1938
- To Wake The Dead (Fell) - 1938
- The Crooked Hinge (Fell) - 1938
- The Problem Of The Green Capsule (Fell) - 1939 (British title: The Black Spectacles)
- The Problem Of The Wire Cage (Fell) - 1939
- The Man Who Could Not Shudder (Fell) - 1940
- The Case of the Constant Suicides (Fell) - 1941
- Death Turns The Tables (Fell) - 1942 (British title: The Seat Of The Scornful)
- The Emperor's Snuffbox - 1942
- Till Death Do Us Part (Fell) - 1944
- He Who Whispers (Fell) - 1946
- The Sleeping Sphinx (Fell) - 1947
- Below Suspicion (Fell) - 1949 (also features Patrick Butler)
- The Bride Of Newgate - 1950, historical mystery
- The Devil In Velvet - 1951, historical mystery
- The Nine Wrong Answers - 1952
- Captain Cut-Throat - 1955, historical mystery
- Patrick Butler For The Defence (detective Patrick Butler) - 1956
- Fire, Burn! - 1957, historical mystery
- The Dead Man's Knock (Fell) - 1958
- Scandal At High Chimneys: A Victorian Melodrama - 1959, historical mystery
- In Spite Of Thunder (Fell) - 1960
- The Witch Of The Low-Tide: An Edwardian Melodrama - 1961, historical mystery
- The Demoniacs - 1962, historical mystery
- Most Secret - 1964 (This was a revision of a novel by Carr that was published in 1934 as Devil Kinsmere under the pseudonym "Roger Fairbairn")
- The House At Satan's Elbow (Fell) - 1965
- Panic In Box C (Fell) - 1966
- Dark Of The Moon (Fell) - 1968
- Papa La-Bas - 1968, historical mystery
- The Ghosts' High Noon - 1970, historical mystery
- Deadly Hall - 1971, historical mystery
- The Hungry Goblin: A Victorian Detective Novel - 1972, (Wilkie Collins is the detective)

Novels as Carter Dickson

Scandal At High Chimneys
- The Bowstring Murders - 1934 (Originally published as by Carr Dickson, but Carr's publishers complained that the name was too similar to Carr's real name, so Carter Dickson was substituted.)
- The Plague Court Murders (detective: Sir Henry Merrivale) - 1934
- The White Priory Murders (Merrivale) - 1934
- The Red Widow Murders (Merrivale) - 1935
- The Unicorn Murders (Merrivale) - 1935
- The Magic Lantern Murders (Merrivale) -1936 (British title: The Punch And Judy Murders)
- The Peacock Feather Murders (Merrivale) - 1937 (British title: The Ten Teacups)
- Death In Five Boxes (Merrivale) - 1938
- The Judas Window (Merrivale) - 1938
- Fatal Descent (in collaboration with John Rhode) - 1939 (British title: Drop To His Death)
- The Reader Is Warned (Merrivale) - 1939
- And So To Murder (Merrivale) - 1940
- Nine - And Death Makes Ten (Merrivale) - 1940 (British title: Murder In The Submarine Zone)
- Seeing Is Believing (Merrivale) - 1941
- The Gilded Man (Merrivale) - 1942
- She Died A Lady (Merrivale) - 1943
- He Wouldn't Kill Patience (Merrivale) - 1944
- The Curse Of The Bronze Lamp (Merrivale) - 1945 (British title: Lord Of The Sorcerors)
- My Late Wives (Merrivale) - 1946
- The Skeleton In The Clock (Merrivale) - 1948
- A Graveyard To Let (Merrivale) - 1949
- Night At The Mocking Widow (Merrivale) - 1950
- Behind The Crimson Blind (Merrivale) - 1952
- The Cavalier's Cup (Merrivale) - 1953
- Fear Is The Same - 1956, historical mystery

Short story collections


- The Department of Queer Complaints (as Carter Dickson) (detective: Colonel March) - 1940
- Dr. Fell, Detective, and Other Stories - 1947 (Fell)
- The Third Bullet and Other Stories - 1954
- The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes, with Adrian Conan Doyle - 1954 (Sherlock Holmes)
- The Men Who Explained Miracles (Fell, Merrivale, and others)

Non-fiction


- The Murder of Sir Edmund Godfrey - 1936, historical recreation of a noted murder in 1678
- The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - 1949, the authorized biography

See also


- Crime fiction

External links


- [http://www.mysterylist.com/carr.htm A John Dickson Carr Page]
- [http://www.classiccrimefiction.com/carrbib.htm Illustrated Bibliography of 1st Editions]
- [http://www.jdcarr.com/ The John Dickson Carr Collector] pictures of first edition covers Carr, John Dickson Carr, John Dickson Carr, John Dickson Carr, John Dickson Carr, John Dickson ja:ジョン・ディクスン・カー

November 30

November 30 is the 334th day (335th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 31 days remaining, as the final day of November.

Events


- 1782 - American Revolutionary War: In Paris, representatives from the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain sign preliminary peace articles (later formalized in the 1783 Treaty of Paris).
- 1786 - Peter Leopold Joseph of Habsburg-Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, promulgates a penal reform making his country the first state to abolish the death penalty. November 30 is therefore commemorated by 300 cities around the world as Cities for Life Day.
- 1803 - In New Orleans, Spanish representatives officially transfer Louisiana Territory to a French representative. Just 20 days later, France transfers the same land to the United States as the Louisiana Purchase.
- 1804 - The Jeffersonian Republican-controlled United States Senate begins an impeachment trial against Federalist-partisan Supreme Court of the United States Justice Samuel Chase.
- 1853 - Crimean War: The Russian navy destroys the Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Sinop.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Franklin - The Army of Tennessee led by General John Bell Hood mounts a dramatically unsuccessful frontal assault on Union positions around Franklin, Tennessee (Hood lost six generals and almost a third of his troops).
- 1872 - The first-ever international football match takes place at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow, between Scotland and England.
- 1886 - The Folies Bergère stages its first revue.
- 1902 - American Old West: Second-in-command of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch gang, Kid Curry Logan, is sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with hard labor.
- 1916 - Costa Rica becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
- 1936 - In London, the Crystal Palace, built for the 1851 Great Exhibition, is destroyed in a fire.
- 1939 - Winter War: Soviet forces invade Finland and reach the Mannerheim Line, starting the war.
- 1940 - Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz are married in Greenwich, Connecticut.
- 1943 - World War II: Tehran Conference - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet leader Josef Stalin establish an agreement concerning a planned June 1944 invasion of Europe codenamed Operation Overlord.
- 1954 - In Sylacauga, Alabama, United States, an 8.5 pound sulfide meteorite crashes through a roof and hits Mrs. Elizabeth Hodges in her living room after bouncing off her radio, giving her a bad bruise, in the only unequivocally known case of a human being hit by a space rock.
- 1960 - Production of the De Soto automobile brand ceases.
- 1962 - The United Nations General Assembly elects U Thant of Burma as the new UN Secretary-General.
- 1966 - Barbados becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
- 1967 - The People's Republic of South Yemen becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
- 1972 - Vietnam War: White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler tells the press that there will be no more public announcements concerning American troop withdrawals from Vietnam due to the fact that troop levels are now down to 27,000.
- 1979 - Pink Floyd release the album The Wall.
- 1981 - Cold War: In Geneva, representatives from the United States and the Soviet Union begin to negotiate intermediate-range nuclear weapon reductions in Europe (the meetings ended inconclusively on December 17).
- 1982 - British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher receives a parcel bomb at 10 Downing Street.
- 1988 - Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. buys RJR Nabisco for $25.07 billion.
- 1989 - Deutsche Bank board member Alfred Herrhausen is killed by a Red Army Faction terrorist bomb.
- 1989 - Richard Mallory of Palm Harbor, Florida becomes female serial killer Aileen Wuornos's first victim.
- 1993 - U.S. President Bill Clinton signs the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (the Brady Bill) into law.
- 1994 - Hip-hop artist Tupac Shakur is robbed of $40,000 in jewelry and survives being shot five times in a New York music studio.
- 1998 - Deutsche Bank announces a $10 billion deal to buy Bankers Trust, thus creating the largest financial institution in the world.
- 1999 - In Seattle, Washington, United States, protests against the WTO meeting by anti-globalization protesters catches police unprepared and forces the cancellation of opening ceremonies.
- 1999 - British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems merge to form BAE Systems, Europe's largest defence contractor and the fourth largest aerospace firm in the world.
- 2000 - The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 comes into force in the UK.
- 2004 - Longtime Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings finally loses, leaving him with $2,520,700, television's all-time biggest game show haul.
- 2004 - Lion Air Flight 538 crashlands in Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia, killing 26.
- 2005 - Rt Rev John Sentamu becomes the first black archbishop in the Church of England as Archbishop of York.

Births


- 539 - Gregory of Tours, French bishop and historian (d. 594)
- 1340 - John, Duke of Berry, son of John II of France (d. 1416)
- 1364 - John FitzAlan, 2nd Baron Arundel, English soldier (d. 1390)
- 1466 - Andrea Doria, Italian naval leader (d. 1560)
- 1508 - Andrea Palladio, Italian architect (d. 1580)
- 1554 - Philip Sidney, English courtier, soldier, and writer (d. 1586)
- 1594 - John Cosin, English clergyman (d. 1672)
- 1625 - Jean Domat, French jurist (d. 1696)
- 1637 - Louis-Sébastien Le Nain de Tillemont, French historian (d. 1698)
- 1667 - Jonathan Swift, Irish writer and satirist (d.1745)
- 1670 - John Toland, Irish philosopher (d. 1722)
- 1683 - Ludwig Andreas Graf Khevenhüller, Austrian field marshal (d. 1744)
- 1719 - Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Princess of Wales (d. 1772)
- 1722 - Theodore Gardelle, Swiss painter and enameler (d. 1761)
- 1723 - William Livingston, revolutionary Governor of New Jersey (d. 1790)
- 1756 - Ernst Chladni, German physicist (d. 1827)
- 1781 - Alexander Berry, British adventurer (d. 1873),
- 1796 - Carl Loewe, German composer (d. 1869)
- 1810 - Oliver Winchester, American gunsmith (d. 1880)
- 1813 - Louise-Victorine Ackermann, French poet (d. 1890)
- 1813 - Charles-Valentin Alkan, French composer (d. 1888)
- 1817 - Theodor Mommsen, German author and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1903)
- 1835 - Mark Twain, American writer (d. 1910)
- 1836 - Lord Frederick Cavendish, British politician (d. 1882)
- 1857 - Bobby Abel, English test cricketer (d. 1936)
- 1858 - Jagdish Chandra Bose, Indian Physicist (d. 1937)
- 1863 - Andres Bonifacio, head of the Philippine Revolutionary Movement Katipunan (KKK) (d. 1897)
- 1869 - Gustaf Dalén, Swedish physicist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1937)
- 1874 - Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
- 1874 - Lucy Maud Montgomery, Canadian author (d. 1942)
- 1889 - Edgar Douglas Adrian, British physiologist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1977)
- 1898 - Firpo Marberry, American baseball player (d. 1976)
- 1904 - Clyfford Still, American painter (d. 1980)
- 1907 - Jacques Barzun, French-born historian and author
- 1912 - Gordon Parks, American photographer, film director, composer and writer
- 1915 - Brownie McGhee, American blues musician (d.1996)
- 1915 - Henry Taube, Canadian-born chemist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2005)
- 1918 - Efrem Zimbalist Jr., American actor
- 1920 - Virginia Mayo, American actress (d. 2005)
- 1924 - Shirley Chisholm, American politician (d. 2005)
- 1924 - Allan Sherman, American comedian (d. 1973)
- 1927 - Richard Crenna, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1927 - Robert Guillaume, American actor
- 1929 - Dick Clark, American television host
- 1929 - Joan Ganz Cooney, American children's television pioneer
- 1930 - G. Gordon Liddy, Watergate operative
- 1931 - Jack Ging, American actor
- 1931 - Bill Walsh, American football coach
- 1936 - Abbie Hoffman, American activist (d. 1989)
- 1937 - Ridley Scott, British film director
- 1937 - Paul Stookey, American folk singer (Peter, Paul & Mary)
- 1943 - Terrence Malick, American director and screenwriter.
- 1945 - Roger Glover, British bassist (Deep Purple)
- 1947 - David Mamet, American playwright
- 1951 - Christian Bernard, mystic
- 1951 - June Chadwick, British actress
- 1952 - Mandy Patinkin, American actor and singer
- 1955 - Billy Idol, British musician
- 1956 - June Pointer, American r&b/pop singer (Pointer Sisters)
- 1957 - John Ashton, British musician

1906

1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar).

Events


- January 8 - Landslide in Haverstraw, New York kills 20
- January 31 - Earthquake in Ecuador (8.6 in Richter scale)
- February 11 - Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical Vehementer nos.
- February 15 - Representatives of the Labour Representation Committee in the UK parliament take the name Parliamentary Labour Party
- March 10 - Explosion in coalmine in Courrières, France kills 1060
- March 15 - Rolls-Royce Ltd. is registered
- March 18 - Traian Vuia flies first self-propelled heavier than air aircraft
- April 7 - Mount Vesuvius erupts and devastates Naples.
- April 18 - 1906 San Francisco earthquake on the San Andreas Fault destroys much of San Francisco, California, killing at least 3000. The estimated magnitude of the earthquake is 7.8.
- June 9-June 10 - Riots in Stockholm, Ladugårsdgärden - 50 policemen injured
- June 25 - New York playboy Harry K. Thaw shoots architect Stanford White
- June 28-July 6 - Crown Jewels of Ireland stolen during this period
- September 5 - Brandbury Robinson throws the first legal forward pass in an American football game.
- September 18 - Typhoon with tsunami kills an estimated 10.000 persons in Hong Kong
- September 22 - Race riots in Atlanta, Georgia (12 killed)
- October 11 - San Francisco public school board sparks United States diplomatic crisis with Japan by ordering Japanese students to be taught in racially segregated schools.
- October 16 - The Captain of Köpenick fools a city hall in Köpenick by impersonating a Prussian officer
- October 23 - Aeroplane of Alberto Santos-Dumont takes off on Bagatelle in France and flies 60 meters (200 feet)
- October 28 - Creation of the Union Minière du Haut Katanga, a Belgian mining trust in Congo.
- November 3 - SOS becomes an international distress signal
- November 9 - US President Theodore Roosevelt leaves for a trip to Panama to inspect the construction progress of the Panama Canal (this was the first time a sitting President of the United States made an official trip outside of the United States).
- December 4 - Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans, was founded at Cornell University
- December 6 - Politic creation of district of Chimbote.
- December 24 - Reginald Fessenden makes the first radio broadcast: a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech.
- 26 December - The world's first feature film, "The Story of the Kelly Gang", is released.

Unknown dates


- Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunization for tuberculosis first developed
- Richard Oldham argues that the Earth has a molten interior
- Second Geneva Convention
- Construction begins on the current Great Mosque of Djenné.
- The muffuletta sandwich is invented in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Births


- January 22 - Robert E. Howard, American author (d. 1936)
- February 4 - Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer (d. 1997)
- February 10 - Erik Rhodes, American actor (d. 1990)
- March 1 - Pham Van Dong, Prime Minister of Vietnam (d. 2000)
- March 16 - Henny Youngman, English born comedian (d. 1998)
- March 19 - Adolf Eichmann, Nazi official (d. 1962)
- March 31 - Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
- April 9 - Antal Dorati, Hungarian conductor (d. 1988)
- April 13 - Samuel Beckett, Irish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1989)
- April 25 - William J. Brennan, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1997)
- April 28 - Paul Sacher, Swiss conductor (d. 1999)
- May 6 - André Weil, French mathematician (d. 1998)
- May 28 - Phil Regan, American actor (d. 1996)
- May 29 - T. H. White, British writer (d. 1964)
- June 7 - Glen Gray, American saxophonist (d. 1963)
- June 15 - Léon Degrelle, Belgian fascist (d. 1994)
- June 19 - Ernst Boris Chain, German-born biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1979)
- June 20 - Catherine Cookson, English author (d. 1998)
- June 20 - Robert Trent Jones, English-born golf course designer (d. 2000)
- June 22 - Anne Morrow Lindbergh American author and aviator (d. 2001)
- June 22 - Billy Wilder screenwriter, film director and producer (d. 2002)
- June 24 - Pierre Fournier, French cellist (d. 1986)
- June 28 - Maria Goeppert-Mayer, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1972)
- July 1 - Estée Lauder, American cosmetics entrepreneur (d. 2004)
- July 2 - Hans Bethe, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2005)
- July 23 - Vladimir Prelog, Croatian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
- August 5 - Wassily Leontief, Russian economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1999)
- August 12 - Tedd Pierce, American animator (d. 1972)
- August 28 - John Betjeman, English poet (d. 1984)
- September 1 - Franz Biebl, German composer (d. 2001)
- September 4 - Max Delbrück, German biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1981)
- September 6 - Luis Federico Leloir, French-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
- September 25 - Dmitri Shostakovich, Russian composer (d. 1975)
- October 10 - Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Narayan Indian novelist (d. 2001)
- October 14 - Imam Hassan al Banna, Egyptian founder of the Muslim Brotherhood (d. 1949)
- October 23 - Gertrude Ederle, American swimmer (d. 2003)
- October 27 - Earle Cabell, American politician (d. 1975)
- November 5 - Fred Lawrence Whipple, American astronomer (d. 2004)
- November 18 - Klaus Mann, German writer (d. 1949)
- November 18 - George Wald, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1997)
- December 5 - Otto Preminger, Austrian-born film director (d. 1986)
- December 25 - Ernst Ruska, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)

Deaths


- January 29 - King Christian IX of Denmark (b. 1818)
- February 9 - Paul Laurence Dunbar, American poet and publisher (b. 1872)
- February 27 - Samuel Pierpont Langley, American astronomer, physicist, and aeronautics pioneer (b. 1834)
- March 13 - Susan B. Anthony, American civil rights and women's suffrage activist (b. 1820)
- March 29 - Slava Raskaj, Croatian painter (b. 1877)
- April 6 - Alexander Kielland, Norwegian author (b. 1849)
- April 11 - Francis Pharcellus Church, American editor and publisher (b. 1839)
- April 19 - Pierre Curie, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1859)
- April 24 - Mary Hunt, American temperance movement leader (b. 1830)
- May 14 - Carl Schurz, German revolutionary and American statesman (b. 1829)
- May 23 - Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian playwright (b. 1828)
- September 5 - Ludwig Boltzmann, Austrian physicist (b. 1844)
- October 22 - Paul Cézanne, French painter (b. 1839)
- December 7 - Élie Ducommun, Swiss journalist and activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1833)

Nobel Prizes


- Physics - Sir Joseph John Thomson
- Chemistry - Henri Moissan
- Medicine - Camillo Golgi, Santiago Ramón y Cajal
- Literature - Giosuè Carducci
- Peace - Theodore Roosevelt

Buildings

St Mary's Star of the Sea Catholic School Balboa Pavilion in Newport Beach, California Category:1906 ko:1906년 ms:1906 ja:1906年 simple:1906 th:พ.ศ. 2449

1977

:For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). 1977 (MCMLXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1977 calendar).

Events

January-February


- January 1 - First woman Episcopal priest ordained.
- January 10 - Major eruption of Mount Nyiragongo in eastern Zaire.
- January 17 - Gary Gilmore executed by a firing squad in Utah
- January 18 - Scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious "legionnaire's disease"
- January 18 - Australia experiences its worst railway disaster at Granville, near Sydney, in which 83 people died.
- January 19 - President Gerald Ford pardons Iva Toguri D'Aquino (aka "Tokyo Rose").
- January 19 - Snow falls in Miami, Florida. This is the only time in the history of the city that this occurred, and the farthest south a snowfall has been recorded in the United States.
- January 20 - Gerald Rudolph Ford, 38th President of the United States is succeeded by Jimmy Carter.
- January 21 - President Jimmy Carter pardons Vietnam War draft evaders.
- January 27 - Record company EMI sacks the controversial UK punk rock group the Sex Pistols.
- February 7 - The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 24.
- February 11 - A 20.2-kg (44-lb.-9-oz.) lobster is caught off Nova Scotia (heaviest known crustacean).
- February 18 - The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle goes on its maiden "flight" while sitting on top of a Boeing 747.

March-April


- March 1 - Sara Lowndes Dylan files for divorce from her husband of 11 years, Bob Dylan
- March 4 - 1977 Bucharest Earthquake - kills more than 1,500
- March 9 - Approximately a dozen armed Hanafi Muslims take over three buildings in Washington, DC, killing one person and taking more than 130 hostages. The hostage situation ends two days later.
- March 27 - A collision between KLM and PanAm Boeing 747s at Tenerife, Canary Islands, kills 583, worst plane crash ever
- April 1 - Hay-on-Wye declares independence
- April 7 - German Federal Prosecutor Siegfried Buback and his driver are shot by two Red Army Faction members while waiting at a red light near his home in Karlsruhe. "The Ulrike Meinhof Commando" later claims responsibility
- April 7 - Toronto Blue Jays play their first-ever game of baseball against the Chicago White Sox
- April 28 - Stuttgart court sentences RAF members Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin and Jan-Carl Raspe to life imprisonment

May-June


- May 17 - The Likud lead by Menachem Begin wins the elections in Israel.
- May 23 - Scientists report using bacteria in lab to make insulin
- May 23 - Moluccan terrorists take over a school in Bovensmilde, northern Netherlands (105 hostages) and a passenger train in Bovensmilde-Assen route nearby (90 hostages) at the same time. June 11 Dutch Royal Marines storm the train - six terrorists and two hostages are killed
- May 25 - Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope opens in theaters.
- May 26 - George Willig climbed the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
- May 28 - In Southgate, Kentucky, the Beverly Hills Supper Club is engulfed in fire, killing 165 inside.
- June 5 - A coup takes place in Seychelles.
- June 7 - After campaigning by Anita Bryant and her anti-Gay "Save Our Children" crusade, Dade County, Florida voters overwhelmingly vote to repeal the county's Gay rights ordinance, igniting a wave of violence against Gays across the United States.
- June 6-June 9 - Jubilee celebrations are held in the United Kingdom to celebrate twenty-five years of Elizabeth II's reign.
- June 10 - James Earl Ray escapes from Brushy Mountain State Prison in Petros, Tennessee (he was recaptured on June 13).
- June 15 - Spain has its first democratic elections after 41 years under the Franco regime.
- June 20 - The Supreme Court of the United States rules that states are not required to spend Medicaid funds on elective abortions.
- June 20 - Anglia Television broadcasts fake documentary "Alternative 3". it enters into conspiracy theory canon.
- June 22 - Robert Hillsborough, a Gay San Franciscan, is brutally stabbed to death just steps from his home by four youths, calling him "fag" and "queer" and allegedly shouting "this one's for Anita Bryant".
- June 25 - US man Roy Sullivan in struck by lightning for the 7th time
- June 26 - Some 200,000 Gays march through the streets of San Francisco, protesting Anita Bryant's homophobia and Robert Hillsborough's murder.

July-August


- July 4 - Manchester United manager Tommy Docherty is sensationally sacked by the club's directors.
- July 5 - Military coup in Pakistan Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto the very first elected Prime Minster of Pakistan overthrown.
- July 13 - The New York City Blackout of 1977 lasts for 25 hours and results in looting and other disorder.
- July 15 - Anti Drugs Campainer Donald Mackay disappears near Griffith N.S.W (New South Wales) presumed Murdered
- July 22 - The purged Chinese communist leader Deng Xiaoping is restored to power as the "Gang of Four" is expelled from the Communist Party of China.
- July 28 - First oil through the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System reaches Valdez, Alaska
- July 30 - Left-wing German terrorists Susanne Albrecht[http://www.baader-meinhof.com/who/terrorists/raf/albrechtsusanne.html], Brigitte Mohnhaupt[http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigitte_Mohnhaupt] and a third person assassinate Jürgen Ponto[http://www.dresdner-bank.com/content/03_unternehmen/05_gesellschaftliches_engagement/02_ponto_stiftung/], chairman of the Dresdner Bank in Oberursel, West Germany
- August 3 - United States Senate Hearing on MKULTRA.
- August 4 - US President Jimmy Carter signs legislation creating the United States Department of Energy
- August 12 - NASA space shuttle makes its first test flight off the back of a jetliner
- August 15 - The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by The Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "WOW!" signal for notation made by a volunteer on the project.
- August 16 - Rock singer Elvis Presley dies in Tennessee.
- August 19 - Groucho Marx dies.
- August 19 - Indonesia Earthquake and Tsunami of 1977
- August 20 - Voyager program: The United States launches the Voyager 2 spacecraft

September


- September 5 - Voyager program: Voyager 1 is launched after a brief delay
- September 5 - Hanns-Martin Schleyer, President of the Employers Association, is kidnapped in Cologne, West Germany. Kidnappers kill three escorting police officers and his chauffeur. They demand release of Red Army Faction prisoners
- September 6 - (approx) - Steve Biko suffers a massive head injury in police custody in South Africa.
- September 7 - Treaties between Panama and the United States on the status of the Panama Canal are signed. The US agrees to transfer control of the canal to Panama at the end of the 20th century
- September 8 - INTERPOL issues a resolution against piracy of video tapes and other material, which is still cited in warnings on videotapes and DVDs now.
- September 10 - Hamida Djandoubi is the last guillotine execution in France.
- September 11 - The last "wild" infection of smallpox is reported in Somalia.
- September 12 - Steve Biko dies of his injuries.
- September 21 - Nuclear-proliferation pact, curbing spread of nuclear weapons, is signed by 15 countries including the United States and USSR.
- September 28 - Porsche 928 debuts at the Geneva Auto Convention

October-December


- October 13 - Four Palestinians hijack a Lufthansa Airlines flight to Somalia and demand release of 11 members of the Red Army Faction. See German Autumn
- October 17-October 18 - GSG-9 troopers storm a hijacked Lufthansa passenger plane in Mogadishu, Somalia - three of the four hijackers die
- October 18 - Red Army Faction members Andreas Baader, Jan-Carl Raspe and Gudrun Ensslin commit suicide in Stammheim prison. Irmgard Möller fails. Their supporters continue to claim they were murdered. Bodies are buried October 27
- October 19 - Kidnapped industrialist Hanns-Martin Schleyer is found killed in Mulhoull, France
- October 20 - Three members of rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd die in charter plane crash
- October 21 - The European Patent Institute is founded
- October 26 - The last natural case of smallpox was discovered in Merca district, Somalia. The WHO and the CDC consider this date the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success of vaccination and, by extension, of modern science.
- November 6 - The Kelly Barnes Dam, located above Toccoa Falls Bible College near Toccoa, Georgia, fails, killing 39
- November 19 - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel when he meets with Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and speaks before the Knesset in Jerusalem, seeking a permanent peace settlement (much of the Arab world is outraged by the visit).
- November 22 - British Airways inaugurates regular London to New York City supersonic Concorde service
- December 1 - First flight of Lockheed's top-secret stealth project aircraft designated Have Blue, the precursor to the US F-117A Nighthawk.
- December 4 - Jean-Bédel Bokassa, president of the Central African Republic, crowns himself Emperor.
- December 4 - Malaysia Airlines Flight 653 is hijacked and crashed in Johor, Malaysia, killing 100.

Unknown dates


- 2060 Chiron, first of the outer solar system asteroids known as Centaurs, discovered by Charlie Kowal.
- Color TV Game 6 is created by Nintendo.
- Portugal's traditional naming conventions change such that children's surnames can come from either the mother or the father, not just from the father.

Births

January-March


- January 7 - Dustin Diamond, American actor
- January 8 - Amber Benson, American actress
- January 13 - Orlando Bloom, British actor
- January 22 - Hidetoshi Nakata, Japanese footballer
- January 26 - Vince Carter, American basketball player
- January 28 - Daunte Culpepper, American football player
- January 28 - Joey Fatone, American musician
- February 2 - Shakira, Colombian musician
- February 3 - Daddy Yankee, Latin Reggaeton musician
- February 5 - Ben Ainslie, British sailor
- February 8 - Yucef Merhi, Venezuelan artist
- February 11 - Randy Moss, American football player
- February 11 - Mike Shinoda, American musician
- February 16 - Ian Clarke, Irish computer scientist
- February 20 - Stephon Marbury, American basketball player
- February 21 - Kevin Rose, American television host
- March 1 - Rens Blom, Dutch athlete
- March 5 - Wally Szczerbiak, Spanish-born basketball player
- March 7 - Mitja Zastrow, German-born swimmer
- March 14 - Mervyn Colley, British kabbalist and ceremonial magician
- March 28 - Devon, American actress

April-June


- April 13 - Gerard Way, American singer (My Chemical Romance)
- April 14 - Sarah Michelle Gellar, American actress
- April 14 - Chandra Levy, American federal government intern (d. 2001)
- April 21 - Jamie Salé, Canadian figure skater
- April 22 - Andruw Jones, Antillean baseball player
- April 23 - John Cena, American professional wrestler
- April 24 - Carlos Beltrán, Puerto Rican baseball player
- April 26 - Tom Welling, American actor
- May 13 - Samantha Morton, British actress
- May 14 - Roy Halladay, American baseball player
- May 14 - Ada Nicodemou, Australian actress
- May 23 - Ilia Kulik, Russian figure skater
- May 26 - Misaki Ito, Japanese actress
- June 1 - Danielle Harris, American voice actress
- June 8 - Kanye West, American rapper and record producer
- June 9 - Peja Stojakovic, Serbian basketball player
- June 14 - Chris McAlister, American football player
- June 16 - Kerry Wood, American baseball player
- June 19 - Peter Warrick, American football player
- June 20 - Stefán H. Ófeigsson, Icelandic space engineer.
- June 27 - Raúl, Spanish footballer

July-November


- July 1 - Jarome Iginla, Canadian hockey player
- July 1 - Liv Tyler, American actress
- July 8 - Milo Ventimiglia, American actor
- July 8 - Wang Zhizhi, Chinese basketball player
- July 10 - Schapelle Corby, Australian in Indonesian prison
- July 14 - Victoria, Princess of Sweden
- July 27 - Martha Anne Madison, American actress
- July 28 - Emanuel Ginóbili, Argentine basketball player
- July 31 - Tim Couch, American football player
- August 2 - Dave Farrel, American musician
- August 3 - Angela Beesley, British Internet entrepreneur
- August 3 - Tom Brady, American football player
- August 9 - Chamique Holdsclaw, American basketball player
- August 12 - Plaxico Burress, American football player
- August 13 - Michael Klim, Australian swimmer
- August 15 - Igor Cassina, Italian gymnast
- August 17 - Thierry Henry, French footballer
- August 25 - Jonathan Togo, American actor
- August 27 - Deco, Portuguese footballer
- September 1 - Aaron Schobel, American football player
- September 11 - Ludacris, American rapper
- September 13 - Fiona Apple, American musician
- September 28 - Se Ri Pak, South Korean golfer
- October 7 - Meighan Desmond, New Zealand actress
- October 11 - Claudia Palacios, Colombian journalist and newsreader
- October 14 - Kelly Schumacher, Canadian basketball player
- October 25 - Birgit Prinz, German footballer
- October 29 - Brendan Fehr, Canadian actor
- November 1 - Alistair Griffin, British singer/songwriter
- November 2 - Randy Harrison, American actor
- November 3 - Aria Giovanni, American model and actress
- November 10 - Brittany Murphy, American actress
- November 13 - Chanel Cole, New Zealand-born singer
- November 16 - Oksana Baiul, Ukrainian figure skater
- November 17 - Ryk Neethling, South African swimmer
- November 19 - Kerri Strug, American gymnast
- November 21 - Jonas Jennings, American football player
- November 28 - DeMya Walker, American basketball player

December


- December - Ahmed al-Nami, Saudi Arabian hijacker (d. 2001)
- December 3 - Adam Malysz, Polish ski jumper
- December 7 - Fernando Vargas, American boxer
- December 12 - Dahm triplets:
- December 12 - Erica, American model
- December 12 - Jaclyn, American model
- December 12 - Nicole, American model
- December 18 - Ryan Scott Ottney, American comic book writer
- December 23 - Alge Crumpler, American football player
- December 30 - Laila Ali, American boxer
- December 30 - Kenyon Martin, basketball player

Deaths

January-March


- January 2 - Errol Garner, American musician (b. 1921)
- January 14 - Anthony Eden, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1897)
- January 14 - Peter Finch, English-born actor (b. 1916)
- January 14 - Anaïs Nin, French author (b. 1903)
- January 17 - Gary Gilmore, American murderer (executed) (b. 1940)
- January 19 - Yvonne Printemps, French singer and actress (b. 1895)
- January 29 - Buster Nupen, South African cricketer (b. 1902)
- January 29 - Freddie Prinze, American actor and comedian (b. 1954)
- February 4 - Brett Halliday, American writer (b. 1904)
- February 11 - Louis Beel, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1902)
- February 27 - Allison Hayes, American actress (b. 1930)
- February 28 - Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, American actor (b. 1905)
- March 4 - Andrés Caicedo, Colombian writer (b. 1951)
- March 11 - Ulysses S. Grant IV, American geologist and paleontologist (b. 1893)
- March 16 - Kamal Jumblatt, leader of the Lebanese Druze (b. 1917)
- March 18 - Marien Ngouabi, President of The Republic of the Congo (assassinated) (b. 1938)
- March 22 - A.K. Gopalan, Indian communist leader (d. 1904)

April-August


- April 21 - Gummo Marx, American actor and comedian (b. 1892)
- May 5 - Ludwig Erhard, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1897)
- May 10 - Joan Crawford, American actress (b. 1905)
- June 3 - Archibald Vivian Hill, English physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)
- June 16 - Werner von Braun, German-born rocket scientist (b. 1912)
- June 19 - Lady Olave Baden-Powell, English Chief Girl Guide (b. 1889)
- June 19 - Ali Shariati, Iranian sociologist (b. 1933)
- July 2 - Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born writer (b. 1899)
- July 13 - Carl Gustav von Rosen, Swedish pilot (b. 1909)
- July 23 - Arsenio Erico, Paraguayan footballer (b. 1915)
- August 4 - Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian, English physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)
- August 14 - Ron Haydock, American actor, writer, and musician (b. 1940)
- August 16 - Elvis Presley, American singer and actor (b. 1935)
- August 19 - Groucho Marx, American actor and comedian (b. 1890)

September-December


- September 1 - Ethel Waters, American singer (b. 1896)
- September 6 - John Edensor Littlewood, British mathematician (b. 1885)
- September 12 - Steve Biko, South African activist (b. 1946)
- September 13 - Leopold Stokowski, English conductor (b. 1882)
- September 16 - Marc Bolan, English musician (b. 1947)
- September 16 - Maria Callas, American-born soprano (b. 1923)
- October 14 - Bing Crosby, American singer and actor (b. 1903)
- October 20 - Members of the American rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd killed in a plane crash:
  - Cassie Gaines (b. 1948)
  - Steve Gaines (b. 1949)
  - Ronnie Van Zant (b. 1948)
- November 5 - René Goscinny, French comic book writer (b. 1926)
- November 8 - Bucky Harris, baseball player (b. 1896)
- November 11 - Greta Keller, Vienna-born cabaret singer and actress (b. 1903)
- November 15 - Princess Charlotte of Monaco (b. 1898)
- November 25 - Tommy Prince, Canadian war hero (b. 1915)
- December 19 - Jacques Tourneur, French director (b. 1904)
- December 25 - Charlie Chaplin, English-born comedian (b. 1889)

Nobel Prizes


- Physics - Philip Warren Anderson, Sir Nevill Francis Mott, John Hasbrouck van Vleck
- Chemistry - Ilya Prigogine
- Physiology or Medicine - Roger Guillemin, Andrew V. Schally, Rosalyn Yalow
- Literature - Vicente Aleixandre
- Peace - Amnesty International
- Economics - Bertil Ohlin, James Meade

Templeton Prize


- Chiara Lubich Category:1977 als:1977 ko:1977년 ja:1977年 simple:1977 th:พ.ศ. 2520

Whodunit

A whodunit or whodunnit (for "Who done it?" and sometimes referred to as a Golden Age Mystery novel) is a complex, plot-driven variety of the detective story in which the puzzle is paramount. The reader is provided with clues from which the identity of the perpetrator of the crime may be deduced before the solution is revealed in the final pages of the book. The investigation is usually conducted by an eccentric amateur or semi-professional detective. The locked-room mystery is a specialized kind of a whodunit. The whodunit flourished during the so-called "Golden Age" of detective fiction, during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, when it was the predominant mode of crime writing. Many of the best writers of whodunits in this period were British -- notably Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Josephine Tey, Michael Innes, Nicholas Blake, Christianna Brand and Edmund Crispin. Others -- S. S. Van Dine, John Dickson Carr, and Ellery Queen -- were American, but imitated the "English" style. Still others, such as Rex Stout, Clayton Rawson, and Earl Derr Biggers, aimed for a more "American" style. Over time, certain conventions and clichés developed that limited any surprises on the part of the reader to the twists and turns within the plot and of course to the identity of the murderer. Several authors excelled, after successfully leading their readers on the wrong track, in convincingly revealing to them the least likely suspect as the real villain of the story. What is more, they had a predilection for certain casts of characters and settings, with the secluded English country house at the top of the list. A U.S. reaction to the cozy conventionality of British murder mysteries was the American hard-boiled school of crime writing of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Mickey Spillane, among others.

Some representative examples of whodunits in chronological order


- Anna Katharine Green's Initials Only (1911)
- E. C. Bentley's Trent's Last Case (1913)
- Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920), introduces Hercule Poirot.
- A. A. Milne's The Red House Mystery (1922), a famous whodunit by the author of the Winnie the Pooh books.
- Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926), featuring Christie's best-known character, Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot, and in which the solution to the crime is related to the narrative technique of the novel (see unreliable narrator)
- Dorothy L. Sayers's Unnatural Death (1927), one of the first Lord Peter Wimsey novels
- S. S. Van Dine's The Greene Murder Case (1928)
- Ronald Knox's The Footsteps at the Lock (1928) -- though Knox is better remembered as the author of ten commandments for writing whodunits and for his short story "Solved by Inspection"
- Anthony Berkeley's The Poisoned Chocolates Case (1929), which features six different solutions to the murder (and is an expansion of Berkeley's classic short story, "The Avenging Chance")
- Ellery Queen'sThe Greek Coffin Mystery (1932), regarded by some as the best of his early novels in the Golden Age style
- C.P. Snow's Death Under Sail (1932) -- his first novel, after which he turned to mainstream fiction; it features unusually complex characters for a mystery of this period
- Rex Stout's The League of Frightened Men (1935), the second Nero Wolfe novel
- John Dickson Carr's The Three Coffins (1935) -- usually considered the quintessential locked-room mystery, replete with a tongue-in-cheek philosophical disquisition on the subject by the detective, Dr. Gideon Fell
- Nicholas Blake's Thou Shell of Death (1935), a locked-room mystery
- Josephine Tey's A Shilling for Candles (1936)